On 14 September 2012 the BMW Driving Academy will open for business. This new BMW Group driver training centre just outside Munich lies close to the heart of the company, with barely 30 kilometres separating it from BMW headquarters. The site of what used to be the Fürstenfeldbruck airfield in Maisach covers some 130 hectares (1.3 million square metres) – an ample area on which to simulate and practise every conceivable type of driving manoeuvre and situation.

“The new facility in Maisach allows us to offer our customers an array of new training options, something that hasn’t been possible up to now due to space restrictions,” says Robert Eichlinger, Head of BMW and MINI Driving Experience. “Here, our customers can now experience and learn to deal with driving situations at various speeds. And that means the driving safety training courses will be more realistic and participants will be able to experience up close how brake distances increase, for example, and at what speed they hit their personal limits when it comes to car control.” With the exception of the racing track courses, adventure trips in South Africa and snow and ice training, this is where all BMW Driving Experience driving safety training courses will take place in the future.